Wednesday, December 19, 2007

This is Why I Don't Talk About Work..

I am taking the day off today. It's Wednesday, but I have a migraine and have been under enough stress over the last few months that I'm surprised that I have not been permanently medicated.

This stress may come as a surprise to some people, since I haven't really blogged about it. You likely did notice that I have basically fallen off of the face of the earth when it comes to blogging.

Will you listen to my story if I promise to tell you about knitting tomorrow?

A few months ago I started a new job. The old job wasn't unbearable or anything, other than ticking me off once in a while, but the new job was so full of promise and more money.

Even on the first day at the new job I had a bad feeling. Everything was a mess, the person training me had never actually done my job before, and there was not one second to breathe.

I told myself it had to get better. It hasn't gotten better. Only worse.

My position is actually two positions (when I applied they were hiring for two positions, but when I got the job it was clear that they were not going to be hiring anyone else).

I have been talking to my bosses and telling them quite seriously that this is more work than one person can do (I am the master of prioritizing, but when two to four huge projects have the same due date and time, there are just not enough hours in the day).

I have been telling them that I can't continue to work like this and that I would be leaving if the workload could not be remedied for 3 months! 3 months!!

We have even had a few meetings that confirmed the problems. The meeting about two months ago showed my amount of work per week at 52 hours (not including any organizational projects, which are numerous and required). They kept saying that they would get someone in to help, but had not done one thing to start the process of hiring someone. All the while the bosses were getting more and more demanding of my time.

Finally, by the end of last week I was at the end of my rope and had come to the realization that help was not on the way. Things were not getting better (even with constant reminders to the bosses), and I could not take it anymore. So Monday morning I turned in my resignation letter saying that for the sake of my health I could not work there anymore.

Well, now they were taking it a little more seriously. (that was not my intention, by the way). My boss asked me to give him until Tuesday to see if he could figure out a way to remedy the situation, and I agreed to give him that time.

We were supposed to meet at 3pm (I leave at 4), but we didn't meet until 4:05 and I was in there until 5:30. Guess how much time my duties should take in one week? 63 hours! I'm supposed to work 37.5 hours. No wonder I'm totally stressed!!

Apparently I'll be getting an assistant. I'll believe it when I see it. They had several months to remedy the situation and it took a resignation letter to have them appear to do anything; this makes my angry and the amount of time that has passed has made me bitter. Not to mention that they have already been promising someone to help for months and have not gotten anyone.

They say I'm a really good fit, so they want to keep me (I'm not easily offended and people can be themselves around me and I'm nice and cheerful, and I quote "not a bitch" (I love that one!), and people feel comfortable around me), but I have a feeling that they want to keep me as much because it would make them look bad to the owners if they couldn't retain staff that they hired (a lot of people who have been there for a few decades are jumping ship).

So, the jury is still out. I may stay, I may go.

I know my husband would be more than happy if I quit right now and never ever went back. Actually, I probably would be too.

Thank you for listening to me. I try to keep the work stuff out of here as much as possible, but it's been overtaking my life lately, and I just needed to get it out.

I'll give you a hint about tomorrow's knitting content --- It's a pattern from a sock book that starts with an "F" and the yarn starts with an "S" and ends with a "Y".

7 comments:

Sometimes it's good to get it all off your chest. At least your bosses know that you will leave if you need to. Remember to only do what you physically can - if things don't get done it will bring more attention to your plight.

Hang in there. Have some eggnog and do some relaxing knitting (not the stressful kind).

Many years ago i switched jobs., On the first day I knew( the gut always knows) it was a mistake. 18 Months later and I was now in management...yikes! I walked into my bosses office with the intention of complaining about a project. But the words that came out were " I quit". It was the best thing I ever did.Left in 2 weeks and already had my old job back. And the pain in my hip that had been so bad for months - amazingly disappeared. GO OR IT. is my advice. Harsh but true.You are being taken advantage of and not in a good way.I hope you get help and it is the answer to your stress. Otherwise your health is more important and you will find another job. Good luck! and Happy Holidays. cg

Do yourself a favor and leave that job!!!. Its never worth it to let a job make you crazy and stressed. It sounds like you have been the consummate professional and your bosses have not been. Don't worry about the bosses or the company, concentrate on your own health and well-being and do absolutely what is best for YOU.